


Long After

by BlunderGod (PompousPickle)



Category: Mortal Kombat (Video Games), Mortal Kombat - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and makeouts, M/M, Suicide mention, the arcade end is sad and I think about it a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-23
Updated: 2015-07-23
Packaged: 2018-04-10 22:00:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4409387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PompousPickle/pseuds/BlunderGod
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kenshi is glad to see his lover after the defeat of Shinnok. But so much has changed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Long After

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Kenshi/Hanzo "I don't think I can trust you anymore"   
> This follows the end of Scorpion's Arcade in Mortal Kombat X.

Kenshi could sense the energy of the Jinsei from the moment he walked into Hanzo’s room. It radiated from inside of the man, mingling alongside the hellfire. It was a part of him, as much as Scorpion was a part of him. Only, Kenshi could not figure out why.

“Takahashi-san.” Hanzo stood to meet the man, bowing swiftly as Kenshi shut the door behind him. It had been two weeks since the defeat of Shinnok. The ordeal had not gone unnoticed by the rest of the world. The corruption of the Jinsei had made quite a mess before Cassie and the others were able to fix everything. It seemed as though Kenshi’s work was never at its end. Finally, he had this moment of reprieve to visit the Shirai Ryu compound.

“It is good to hear your voice, Hanzo,” Kenshi spoke carefully, choosing to dance around the subject of the Jinsei. The two approached each other, standing with only an inch between them. Kenshi raised a hand tentatively, resting it against Hanzo’s face. Within an instant, Hanzo had closed the distance.

Hanzo’s lips were as warm as ever, and he nearly attacked Kenshi with his kisses. He ran his lips across Kenshi’s mouth, before nosing through his beard and kissing against his neck. Kenshi responded in kind, kissing Hanzo  in every spot available to him, showing him exactly how much he had missed being with the other man.

“I’ve longed for you,” Hanzo grumbled into Kenshi’s ear. He nipped at Kenshi’s neck before returning to his mouth, passionate and desperate. He slowly backed the swordsman towards the futon, and Kenshi allowed himself to be laid down. Distantly, Kenshi noticed that Hanzo was being a lot more eager than usual, more desperate for Kenshi’s touch. But the swordsman wanted nothing more than to oblige.

The two stripped each other down, Kenshi stretching himself out below Hanzo. As more skin opened for him, Hanzo turned his attention downwards, landing small kisses in every direction. Kenshi had missed this, certainly. He loved the man, wanted him in every aspect. Still, he couldn’t help but feel as though something was off. The Jinsei thrummed within his lover, pumping life through him. More than a simple act of healing, it was a part of him.

He let his hands roam down as he shed Hanzo of his clothing. His fingers traced over every inch of the man above him, savoring the feeling of his skin beneath his fingertips. He relished the way Hanzo’s body writhed towards him, begged for him. The way his breath hitched.

But then there was the gasp as Kenshi found an unfamiliar patch of skin.

Kenshi traced his hands around for a moment, pressing deeper before gauging the size and depth of the wound. He recognized the pattern almost immediately.

He grabbed his lover and flipped him over onto the bed, slamming him down. “Explain, Hanzo.” His voice dropped immediately, his eyes glowing with anger, so bright he was sure Hanzo could see them even under the blindfold.

“I wanted…” Hanzo’s voice was choked, thick with both shame and dying arousal. “I wanted to atone. I doomed our allies to the life I myself had lived, as a creature of hell. I had, by my own hand, aided in the rebirth of a god. I thought I could-”

“Could what?” Kenshi interrupted, his hands pushing into Hanzo’s shoulders. “Make it better? Go to the Netherrealm and doom yourself all over again? Did you even think of me? Or Takeda?” Kenshi let out a shuddering breath, trying not to let his anger get the better of him. He knew Hanzo would not take such cruel words lying down.

However, much to his surprise, Hanzo barely moved. For a moment, he only breathed slowly, underneath Kenshi. “I thought of you in every cut,” he finally confessed. “I thought of your first words to me. Of how I could take my rage and channel it, and fuel it to make my life a better one. To improve the world around me. Of how I was better than the Wraith. But when I killed Quan Chi, I wasn’t sure anymore.”

Finally, Kenshi slid off of Hanzo, moving next to him on the futon.  “In my rage,” Hanzo continued, sitting up and facing Kenshi. “I had tried to hurt you. I had willfully ignored your words, and the words of our friends. I had become as foolish as the man I was before you found me. I couldn’t forgive myself.”

“I’m sorry,” Kenshi said slowly, listening carefully to the rise and fall of Hanzo’s heavy breathing. “But I can’t trust you anymore. When I met you, I only wanted one thing from you. And that was for you to live. You went back on that oath to me. I don’t think I am able to trust you to keep on living.”

“Living is all I have left,” Hanzo then finally said. He grabbed Kenshi’s hand. The swordsman tried to pull away, but the other man was relentless, bringing him forward and running Kenshi’s hand over his wound. “The Thunder God found me. He decided that death was too simple a punishment.”

Kenshi began to understand, feeling at the scar underneath his fingertips.  The energy of the Jinsei flowed inside. More than the simple act of healing. There was a thread of the Jinsei inside of him, dooming him to life.

Kenshi never felt more conflicted in his life. “You…”

“I will live for eternity,” Hanzo finally clarified. “I will protect Earthrealm, for all of eternity. I was angry at Raiden, for not letting me enact my own repentance.  But then I saw your face again.”

Kenshi could hear the words unsaid between them. Hanzo’s tenderness, his desperation. It was his gratefulness to just be able to hold Kenshi in his arms, his thankfulness to be alive. He could hear a small rustle of fabric as Hanzo scooted forward, holding out his arms to cup Kenshi’s face. Fingers rested gently on his chin before Kenshi nodded, allowing the man to touch him more firmly.

“You are still angry at me.” Hanzo spoke as though he was the one who could read Kenshi’s mind. Perhaps after being together so long, he could.

“You tried to hide it from me,” Kenshi confirmed. “Can I trust a man like that?”

Hanzo did not respond. He leaned forward, bringing Kenshi’s forehead to his own. “Perhaps you cannot. But I will spend all of my eternity trying to make you trust me again.”  He voice rumbled low, a firm and determined promise. “Raiden cursed me to never grow old with you, to never see you again in the afterlife. But I swear I will never rest until I’ve become the man you want me to be. Even long after you’re gone.”

His words were heavy, full of promises that Kenshi was not sure the man could ever keep. But he wanted to listen, and wanted to believe. He moved forward, kissing the man on his mouth and moving away. “I will hold you to that, Master Hasashi. But for tonight, I am angry.” He moved off the bed, gathering his clothes and redressing himself.

Hanzo knew that he was helpless to stop him, and didn’t even try. Kenshi fastened his shirt, still remembering the feeling of the scar under his fingers. “I do love you,” Kenshi finally said, once he was dressed and heading out the door. It wasn’t something often said between the two, only when they were overcome with emotion. Or when it desperately needed to be said. “And I look forward to seeing the man you become. Even long after I’m gone.”


End file.
